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Inspired by the works of Arthur C. Clarke, J.G. Ballard and Philip K. Dick, Infinite Summer sees Michael Lovett’s NZCA Lines “marry sci-fi futurism to personal intimacies” to produce what must surely be one of the funkiest apocalyptic concept albums of all time. Indeed, also featuring former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley and drummer Sarah Jones (Hot Chip, New Young Pony Club), the follow-up to 2012’s self-titled debut may center on […]

Named after a term used for trained assassins he heard in a documentary on espionage, Skilled Mechanics sees trip-hop trailblazer Tricky assemble his own killer team for the most collaborative studio effort of his lengthy career. Some of those on board are no stranger to the world of Adrian Thaws, including regular vocalist Francesca Belmonte who lends her sultry tones to the eerie synth-balladry of “We Begin,” drummer Luke Harris […]

As you’d expect from a founding member of studious classical-electro outfit Clean Bandit, British-Ugandan vocalist/rapper Love Ssega certainly isn’t short on brainpower. Born and raised in South London, the 24-year-old graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, then made the brave decision to quit the aforementioned Grammy winners to finish his Ph.D. in laser sensing. Love Ssega (real name Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka) is just as cultured as he […]

Judging by all the pre-release talk of shunning EDM, steering dance music back into a proper direction and making a piece of art, you’d expect Steve Angello’s second solo LP, Wild Youth, to be something of a game-changer. So it’s slightly baffling to hear that the Stockholm DJ has delivered the kind of unadventurous, generic and largely forgettable record he appears to be rallying against. Indeed, featuring guest appearances from […]

David Bowie, arguably one of the most influential figures in modern music for the past 40-plus years, died on Sunday, Jan. 10 after a battle with cancer. He was 69. While previous rumors of his death in years past were greatly exaggerated, the news has been confirmed by Bowie’s representatives and his son Duncan Jones (via Twitter). The following statement appears on Bowie’s official Facebook page: “David Bowie died peacefully […]

So after crowning Jamie xx’s “Loud Places” and Bob Moses’ Days Gone By as the greatest single and album of 2015 respectively, we now switch our attention to what we can expect to hear over the next twelve months in the world of dance/electronica. The first big album out of the blocks this year is Moth (Jan 22), the third album from alt-pop duo Chairlift, which judging by its first […]

Another Reason Why Your Music Should Be On Bandcamp Now (If You Needed Another Reason)

Confession: I’m a huge fan of the website Bandcamp as a tool for DIY musicians, and have been for some time. Bandcamp is free to join, incredibly simple to use, and it provides an instant link for you to share with fans where they can go to stream and download your music. You can charge what you want for your music (or nothing at all), and Bandcamp takes a small fee for anything you do sell—and you get paid through PayPal. It even allows your fans to “go social” with your music, allowing them to spread the word about you by sharing streams of your songs on Facebook and other sites through various embedding features. As a music blogger myself, I love when an artist or band points me to their Bandcamp page, because it makes it incredibly easy for me to share their songs.

So if I haven’t already made the case for why your music should be on Bandcamp, let me add yet another reason: Bandcamp has recently tweaked its site more toward music discovery, which means artists now have even more opportunities for people to find them.

This site has always been very heavy on direct-to-fan relationships, and that aspect hasn’t changed—but before now, Bandcamp basically served as more of a static hosting place where it wasn’t that easy to be discovered by new people—instead, you basically had to be the one to point people there, and once they were there, it was simple enough to find your way around. But with this new music discovery focus, people can now go to the Bandcamp home page and find a whole set of features designed to help them find new music—possibly even yours.

Perhaps the coolest new feature on the souped-up Bandcamp site is their Weekly Show, a music discovery show that just rolled out this week. Hosted by Andrew Jervis (a guy with both A&R and radio experience), the weekly feature will showcase, in the site’s own words, “exclusives, previews, recent faves, classics, and obscurities from around the world.” Set alongside the weekly show’s audio stream is a menu of all the artists featured in that week’s showcase, where fans can purchase the tunes without interrupting the live stream. It’s a brilliant design, to be honest. Look for a new Weekly Show every Tuesday.

If you’re a fan of indie music and are looking to connect with bands you probably wouldn’t find anywhere else—Bandcamp is now a great resource for you. And if you’re a DIY musician yourself, and you have some recorded music that could be helping to give you more exposure and income, you simply have no good reason not to get your stuff on Bandcamp.

And with the site’s new music discovery focus—that’s just one more good reason why you should.

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About the Author

Jeff McQ is a songwriter/composer/musician with a diverse resume that includes everything from directing music in church to scoring short films. In addition to his role as chief editor for Music Is My Oxygen (and writing our DIY Musician Channel), Jeff also covers the local music scene for Examiner.com in his hometown of Denver, Colorado, and maintains The Developing Artist [http://artistdevelopmentblog.com], a blog dedicated to offering advice and encouragement to indie musicians.

When he's not tinkering in his home studio or blogging for hours on his laptop at the local coffee shop (to the annoyance of the baristas), Jeff McQ enjoys taking in local shows, going on road trips, wandering aimlessly, and talking to himself.